Bulk products, such as liquid petroleum products, grains and the like, are generally transported with tanker trucks and/or tank rail cars. These bulk products are generally loaded into the tank of the truck or rail car with a loading arm which has one or more swivels to facilitate positioning the loading arm relative to a loading hatch of the truck and/or rail car. The swivels allow the outlet of the loading arm to be positioned relative to the loading hatch in at least a vertical plane.
The diameter of the loading arm is generally large to allow for a large volume of the bulk product to be rapidly loaded into the loading hatch of the truck or rail car. As the bulk product is loaded into the tank, the product may act as a “jet” which reacts against the loading arm. This causes the loading arm to swivel upwards, out of alignment with the loading hatch. This misalignment, combined with the large volume of bulk product being dispensed from the loading arm, may cause a significant spill condition. Such spills decrease the efficiency of the loading operation. Moreover, product lost due to this misalignment may be difficult to recover, particularly in the case of liquid bulk products. As such, misalignment of the loading arm with the loading hatch may also result in an increase in the cost of the bulk product.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative mechanisms for preventing misalignment of a loading arm with a loading hatch during bulk product loading and loading arms comprising the same.